Rating: Summary: Best (but only) Video Scrapbook Available Review: A moving tribute to the games; however, I would have liked to see more event footage rather than just event highlights and those sappy human interest stories. Costas's voice is fine as narrarator (he's got my vote for the sequel too, if he wants the job). If NBC heeds the call for a follow up ("More Olympic Highlights" or "v2002.2") it would be great to see: -more behind the scenes footage (perhaps never before aired). -what it was like to be there: to obtain tickets and to attend an event (including traffic, bus rides, and security). -scenes from the olympic village (athletes quarters), and olympic square/medals ceremonies (downtown). -clips from Jay Leno's hysterical late night coverage (including "Ross the Intern's" live reports). -medal award ceremony pagentry, awards, and concerts. -and full coverage of sporting events including opening and closing ceremonies (even if it requires a boxed set).
Rating: Summary: clear images... Review: and that's about it.Audio is distorted. Poor Costas doesn't sound like himself. Tracking doesn't match the outer package program.
Rating: Summary: clear images... Review: and that's about it. Audio is distorted. Poor Costas doesn't sound like himself. Tracking doesn't match the outer package program.
Rating: Summary: A complete disappointment Review: Each event is glossed over so quickly that if you blink you'll miss it. The best parts of the opening and closing ceremonies (such as the T-Rex's) are omitted. I wanted to throw it in the trash seconds after I started watching it. (The commentator's narration is particularly grating.) If you'd like a DVD with good coverage of figure skating, get the "Salt Lake 2002 Figure Skating the Competition/the Exhibition" two DVD set (oddly enough, also produced by NBC). This set, while not perfect, includes the entire routines--complete with original music, commentary, and audience reaction. It truly recaptures the magic of the moment.
Rating: Summary: A complete disappointment Review: Each event is glossed over so quickly that if you blink you'll miss it. The best parts of the opening and closing ceremonies (such as the T-Rex's) are omitted. I wanted to throw it in the trash seconds after I started watching it. (The commentator's narration is particularly grating.) If you'd like a DVD with good coverage of figure skating, get the "Salt Lake 2002 Figure Skating the Competition/the Exhibition" two DVD set (oddly enough, also produced by NBC). This set, while not perfect, includes the entire routines--complete with original music, commentary, and audience reaction. It truly recaptures the magic of the moment.
Rating: Summary: bad compilation Review: I expected this DVD to feature some complete events and it did but it was not the original, had its own music over it and just plainly... For example, the pairs skating of both the Russian and Canadian teams, yes they were complete, but it wasn't the one seen on TV with the music that they skated to with the commnetary. It has music over it and was extremely dissapointing. If you want to remember the events for the way they happened, this DVD isn't the way to go
Rating: Summary: All the Best Highlights, organized by sport Review: I have seen an advance copy of the DVD and it is spectacular. Over 2 hours in length, it includes highlights from every sport. Each sport has its own chapter so you can go directly to what you want to see at any time. There are more than 45 minutes of bonus features included; more in-depth highlights from some of the best US victories. It is truly worthy of adding to your collection from an Olympics we will always remember.
Rating: Summary: How disappointing! Review: It tries to cover as many events as possible but does neither justice. I also feel that it was done in such a manner as trying to be as 'politically correct' as possible as they seem to go out of their way to minimize the Americans presence in the games. They also barely mentioned any controversies. I bought it hoping that it would cover the games from a historic perspective and give the viewer a feeling of being there. It did not mention the venues in any great detail, the city or state, or the hard work of the locals. It did not mention the commradery of the competitors that comes along every few years. It did not capalize on the thousands of feet of footage available and barely even touched on the limits of the DVD format. They told the story - but only at an arms length. Even interviews with were in the 'bonus' section of the DVD. What a waste! I'll try the figure skating tape (which is what I'm interested in). But on VHS? Give me a break!
Rating: Summary: Too much, too little time. Review: It was a good effort to try to show all the different winter sports. I had bought the 1998 video, which I had enjoyed. The skating was the most disappointing. It has short and I mean short footage of the figure skating. What is shown isn't even the correct music, but elevator music. With the commentator on top of that. There isn't anytime to enjoy or appreciate the sport. I wish I could get my money back. Save your money. Next Olympics buy a blank tape, record the parts you like. You will fare better than buying this DVD.
Rating: Summary: Don't bother Review: Luckily, my experience with this product was borrowing it from a library; had I purchased it, I would have considered it quite a waste of money. Although I am not a sport fanatic, there has always been something special about the Olympics in my mind, whether winter or summer. Therefore, when I saw this in the library, I thought it might be interesting to see some of the best of Salt Lake City. Well, first off, I was sorely disappointed with the point of view taken for this project. If an American was a contender and did not win, it was played out as a huge tragedy, rather than (surprise!) somebody from another country being extremely talented. Of course, this is an American DVD about an Olympics that took place in America, but that doesn't mean that the Americans should win in every sport. Secondly, this DVD only touches the very surface of the sports of the Olympic games. To anybody who has a deep love of any of the sports, seeing 5 minutes of that sport isn't going to make the price of the DVD worth it. This DVD also 'makes nice' with some of the controversies that occurred. Of course, because the scandal with the judging of the pairs figure skating was such a big deal, and because it resulted in a second set of gold medals being awarded in that event, this was mentioned. However, I was hoping to get some clarification of what happened to Spain with at least one of the skiing events (I think they had a medal revoked), but as far as I saw, there was no mention of this whatsoever. Not that I'm a huge figure-skating fan, but one of the things that sticks out in my mind is how incredibly Alexei Yagudin skated, and how the rivalry between him and Yevgenii Plushenko was so heated. In this trite overview, more time was spent introducing the American men's skaters, reducing the clip of Yagudin's performance to a few seconds (with some dumb fill-in music in the background) and no picture of Plushenko at all. I think they would have been better off going all out, and making this into a disc set, where one could watch more of the sports, or taking some of the most popular sports (such as figure skating) and release the video of the competitions as individual DVDs.
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